Despite an early warning that there would be no Switch 2 news at their June briefing, the Nintendo Direct was still a satisfying summer showcase with plenty of exciting titles. We ran our own Digital Foundry Direct special looking at the announcements, with John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie highlighting some of the most anticipated games, including new Metroid, Zelda and Lego titles.
While the video version of that Direct can be viewed below, I thought it might be interesting to talk about my personal highlight of the show, and perhaps more importantly, how the announcements we saw today could play a role in a possible Switch 2 launch. queue up.
When I started, I was blown away by the Lego game: Lego Horizon Adventures. The original Horizon games – Zero Dawn and Forbidden West – have an impeccable setting, and it’s fascinating to see how this translates into a world of colored bricks. Most importantly, surprisingly little has been lost compared to the full-fledged Unreal Engine 5 version of the game for PS5 and PC. High-quality Lumen RT reflections become SSR and flawless virtual shadow maps become traditional shadow maps, but the visual character of the game remains – despite the cuts required to even achieve 30 fps on Switch versus 60 fps elsewhere.
Lego games are traditionally among the most faithful and fun franchise adaptations, and it’s clear that this title also has a lot of promise – especially on Switch, where the visuals and gameplay are perfectly suited to handheld play. I’m looking forward to seeing how this lands later this year, and perhaps we’ll see a visually enhanced version of the Switch’s successor in 2025.
Speaking of which, one big advantage Nintendo has taken advantage of with the Switch is a huge back catalog of Wii U titles due to that system’s relatively poor console sales. That meant a lot of really good games that didn’t find a big audience, so Nintendo has been able to draw from that and make (relatively) simple remakes and remasters to create profitable Switch releases. Looking further into the Switch 2, that source is starting to dry up, as John mentions during the Direct, with relatively few major or notable Wii U titles yet to be remastered.
With the Switch set to be around eight years old by the time the Switch 2 arrives – rumored to be March 2025 – it’s clear that Nintendo didn’t feel obliged to release a successor console at the same pace as rivals Sony and Microsoft. That patience does impact the game lineup, however, as titles that could theoretically have launched alongside a 2024 Switch 2 will now only release for the original Switch, otherwise they’ll face significant delays waiting for the new console.
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It will be interesting to see if games released over the next year show signs of Switch 2-focused development – for example, 30fps series games that tend to stick to 60fps, or games that run at surprisingly low resolutions but with quite advanced graphic functions. These kinds of compromises can be common among multi-generational titles, and as Oliver notes in the Direct, this could be one of the longest cross-generational periods for a Nintendo console ever.
We’ll then stay up to date on potential Switch 2 titles, and hopefully Nintendo will provide more information about the console’s successor, its capabilities and software lineup as we close out 2024 and enter 2025. I’m cautiously optimistic that Nintendo’s strategy here is a sensible one, and there’s always the possibility for both a faster-than-expected Switch 2 and a stacked launch lineup given the extra time they’ve given themselves to get the new console ready, even if there are relatively few all-new Wii U titles waiting in the wings for their moment to shine.
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